The mother of five children who were murdered by their father asked the jury not to sentence him to death after a social worker testified about his chaotic upbringing.
Timothy Jones Jr. has been arrested and convicted of five counts of murder for killing his children in 2014. The jury will decide if he will face the death penalty or life in jail.
But the mother of the children, Amber Kyzer, asked for mercy for her ex-husband for the sake of her deceased children.
“He did not show my children any mercy by any means. But my kids loved him and if I’m speaking on behalf of my kids and not myself, that’s what I have to say,” Kyzer told the court.
“’I hear what my kids went through and what they endured. And as a mother, if I could personally rip his face off I would. That’s the mom in me. That’s the mama bear,” she expressed.
Prosecutor Suzanne Mayes asked if sparing the father’s life was only her personal opinion. Kyzer said: “Right. That’s why we have the jury.”
The mother’s testimony came after social worker Deborah Grey was called to testify about Jones’ chaotic upbringing. His father was born to a 12-year-old rape victim and his mother said she was kept in a closet for a ritual.
Grey’s testimony was disputed. She also detailed three generations of molestations by family members, rapes, stabbings, voodoo rituals, gunshots, frequent fights and screaming, prostitution, and cursing at children. She also mentioned how Jones’ mother soaked him in ice water baths.
It started with Jones’ grandmother, who was raped by her stepfather and gave birth to him at the age of 12. The chaos extended to his parents and his mother went into a mental institution when he was a toddler.
Defense lawyers are trying to show how Jones struggled from mental illness and cracked when he became a single father after their marriage collapsed.
“They have been through a lot. But there’s a lot of love and a lot of caring between these folks,” Grey said.
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